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Publisher's Note: I met Anthony at Libertopia in October 2011 and was captivated by his speech on the police and the clear and present danger they pose to all humans on Earth and especially in the Untied States. He was kind enough to take the time for this interview. -BB

Why are the police such a threat?

All states are institutions of organized, legitimized violence, and the police are the enforcement arm of these institutions. So police are always and everywhere a threat. In our own time and country, the police have been more than the mundane threat inherent to the nature of government. They have become the occupying army Malcolm X identified, but much worse. The wars on drugs and terrorism have dramatically militarized our police forces. Most laws they enforce are morally bankrupt, most of their techniques are atrocious, and the personnel employed by these forces have tended to become increasingly aggressive and lacking in curiosity. The way they dress—as though about to stage a Third-World coup—should tell you all you need to know. The vast numbers of arrests, the allure of seizing goods through asset forfeiture, the steady erosion of the Bill of Rights, the proliferation of SWAT raids—100 a day in America—and the doctrine that police are virtually immune for their wrongful conduct have all conspired to create a most formidable police state in our land of the free.

How would you suggest the average person take precautions for a police encounter?

I don't know what my advice is worth here. I am fairly cowardly around these agents of the state, as they are armed and dangerous and often unpredictable. I would just suggest being polite, not overly subservient but certainly not confrontation. Standing up for your rights, while always moral, is not always wise, if survival is a high priority. It also depends on the type of encounter. All are potentially dangerous, especially today, but you can still get a feel for the cops who are probably less likely to ruin your day or life.

Do you suppose that the institution of police in America has simply been ramping up in violence against the citizenry over time? What is causing the increased brutality that is becoming so commonplace?

A large part of it is the drug war. The modern police were born largely in the progressive era and got much worse when they got vehicles, huge departments, fingerprinting databases, jails of significant size, and powerful weapons. But in the last few decades, the drug war has completely obliterated whatever protections of common denizens previously existed. The standards for search and seizure have been greatly compromised, which makes everything else worse, and the huge rise in federal subsidies for municipal police in the forms of military hardware has been particularly pernicious, especially in terms of the police's attitude. They have been taught to look at our cities and towns as war zones, and all of us as potential enemy combatants. Plenty of other laws, like those against "resisting arrest," certainly tip the balance further toward the police state.
After the drug war desensitized the American people to invasive police searches, raids, and brutality, the war on terrorism and all that has transpired in the last decade have simply been a mop-up job. So long as we have a large government—with a strong regulatory apparatus and paternalistic criminal code—police state will be with us. The immigration laws and gun laws make the problem much worse. But at root is a cultural issue: Many American people are used to this, support it, or remember nothing else.

How severe do you suppose is the under-reporting of police brutality in America?

I think it's a big problem. A YouTube is available showing how difficult it is to file a complaint with the police department. I think the vast majority of brutality against the youth, the poor, and minorities, is never officially reported. For years feminists have said sexual abuse is probably under-reported, and I would agree with their reasoning, but it would seem to apply even more so to police brutality, where the imbalance of power between cops and citizens is far greater than between men and women.

So I have come up with a list of dream research initiatives I would love to see answered. This is just the start and I would love to entertain others that I may have overlooked. I will start a thread on my forum for folks to add to. See: https://zerogov.com/forum/index.php?topic=1526.0-BB
1. How many innocents and non-felons are maimed and killed by police every year? We are already aware of the phenomenally low fatality rate for cops on the job. How many of these victims are those who have allegedly violated the “officer safety” meme that literally gives all cops a license to kill?
2. How many government toll roads continue to charge fees and tolls for roads already paid and direct the funds to non-road spending?
3. If 95% of all stop signs in the US were made into yield signs or eliminated altogether, what would be the true impact on safety? Bonus question: How many times have you ever witnessed cops come to a full stop at a stop sign?
4. What is the true impact of speeding laws on safety and why is that most speeding tickets are given on highway arterials and most accidents occur in cities under 35 MPH?
5. Suppressors (devices that reduce or eliminate the noise a weapon makes) are highly regulated in the US yet have zero connection to crime according to FBI statistics. In both Europe and places like New Zealand, it is considered good firearms etiquette to employ a suppressor if you can to reduce the noise pollution and are relatively unregulated. Why are they so highly regulated in the US?

Publisher’s Note: I first become acquainted with Michael’s work several years ago with his Southern Nationalist Network site. Here was a young man who elegantly and powerfully defended the Southern tradition. He spoke with an evident deep reading of the history that is the true south and not the superficial and specious nonsense that passes for cultural observation of the South in the popular media. I was intrigued by his comprehensive apprehension of the most subtle cadences and reflections that makes the South…southern. He simply gets it right. I have also indulged Michael in retaining many of the English spelling conventions he so adores when he crafts the essay or thoughtful article. Enjoy. -BB

What is SNN?

Southern Nationalist Network is a website and multi-media effort which promotes Southern identity and independence. We have made hundreds of videos (which have nearly a million views on YouTube) and a couple dozen podcast interviews (this is a project we started fairly recently). We’ve organized and recorded perhaps a dozen or so secession demonstrations and marches in South Carolina and Georgia. We have a community of several hundred people on Facebook that we started about a year ago. And we also sell stickers, wristbands and T-shirts which promote our message.
Since this article is addressed to an audience of liberty-loving people, it should be stated that we use the term ‘nationalist’ to refer to our cultural and ethnic identity. The nationalism promoted on SNN is anti-authoritarian and de-centralist. Most of the people connected with the site have been greatly influenced by libertarian-thinking. Anti-statist intellectuals such as Dr Hans-Hermann Hoppe, Dr Ralph Raico, Dr Murray Rothbard and others have had a lot of influence in Southern circles in recent years. One contribution that we are proud of is our promotion of pro-liberty ideas and Austrian Economics within the Southern movement. This effort is made relatively easy for us as Southern nationalists given the theory and influence of Southern decentralists like Thomas Jefferson and proto-Austrian Southerners like John C Calhoun. This historic basis as well as the work of Dr Thomas DiLorenzo and others at the Mises Institute and the outreach of the late Dr Rothbard have forged a positive relationship between the pro-South and pro-liberty movements.
I started a site similar to SNN when I was living in Europe. It began after I made the first pro-South video in my tiny apartment in Madrid. Soon I was making videos on a regular basis and felt like I needed a place where they could be grouped together. This led to the creation of a blog which quickly became a full-blown site. After several years of doing all I could from Europe, I moved back to my native South Carolina where it was much easier to cover events, interview activists and organize efforts. SNN was borne about a year and a half ago as a new and more ambitious version of the old site. Our goal is make the message of Southern nationalism as accessible as possible and present it using all the modern resources available. Thankfully, I’ve gotten a lot of support from people who have responded well to the site. We’ve had orders from all over the world, some generous donations and many people have helped out with articles, podcast interviews, editing the site or working on the technical side of things. Without everyone’s help the site wouldn’t be nearly as good as it is today.

Publisher's Note: My son, Keegan, is a bright and precocious youngster. He is the youngest in our brood at 14 and has some interesting pastimes when he isn’t homeschooling. Among these hobbies is preparedness. We often refer to him as Bert, the survivalist character in the Tremors films with a bunker and a basement full of stuff that Keegan would inventory on a regular basis for free just to be around such riches.

Keegan is not only an extremely competent shooter but he loves to spend part of an evening going through his kit, improving things here, removing things there or reevaluating for new scenarios he has dreamed up. He is a connoisseur of the latest military gear and can identify country of origin and era for a wide variety of combat vests, rigs and backpacks he may see in a movie we are watching or correct folks at gun show who have incorrectly identified some of their wares for sale. His geardo instincts run deep just like his Dad. He penned this essay on why and how to stock the most banal and basic of preparedness kits, the three day BOB. This bag is absolutely critical to have for family members tailored to where you live. Ours tends to be tailored to the high desert environment we happen to live in. I hope this starts a lively discussion on the ZG Forum in the Survival Sub-Forum. I also wanted to thank my readers and supporters for the outpouring of help since I severely injured my back in January. I will get aboard the writing train again soon enough.-BB
What will you do if the zombies attack? A Bug Out Bag (BOB) is a bag that can keep you alive for three days. The minimalist BOB must include food, water, a fire starting kit, and a knife. The standard BOB is a bit more sophisticated, with an added trauma kit, water purification tablets, and a fixed blade. To make life easier, the ultimate BOB has an added surgical kit, multi-tool, and more. The purpose of a BOB is to survive a massive disaster. There is a reason that BOBs have been around so long. If you don’t have a BOB, do you really want to be the whiny neighbor that asks for food or medical supplies?
Let’s start out with a minimalist BOB. A minimalist bag is a compact bag that you can live off of for 72 hours. The light weight of this bag allows you to throw it in with the rest of any gear you might need. Designed to be light, the minimalist bag is made for small people, home, office or car.
Here is a list of things that you need:
Emergency food rations
6 water bottles about 40 oz. a day (most people will need more, but this will keep you alive)
Space blanket
Matches (water proof, wind proof)

“Liberty, then, is the sovereignty of the individual, and never shall man know liberty until each and every individual is acknowledged to be the only legitimate sovereign of his or her person, time, and property, each living and acting at his own cost.”

~ Josiah Warren

The argument of the Collectivist seems to be premised on one basic point: an obligation.
The excuses may be different for the obligation they claim I have, but this premise is shared by Collectivists of all stripes. The Minarchist and the the full-blown Statist may be vastly different in their theories and practices, but in principle, they are exactly the same. Their arguments reduce to this: I owe something to someone for some reason. The tactic of the Collectivist is to try and cloak their aggression in nobility and morality. They may claim I am obligated to pay for the "rule of law", or I need to help the less fortunate. I have no doubt that they may have honorable intentions, but are they good enough "reasons" for aggression? I'd like to take a deeper look at my so-called obligation.
For thousands of years the single Tyrant stood alone and his will was commanded into law. Lysander Spooner had this to say about it in No Treason:
"The single despot stands out in the face of all men, and says: I am the State: My will is law: I am your master: I take the responsibility of my acts: The only arbiter I acknowledge is the sword: If anyone denies my right, let him try conclusions with me."
A look at the tyrannies of ages past proves Spooner to be correct; tyranny is born with the sword and it is kept with the sword, and with the every swipe of the sword your obligation is born. The aggression of the Tyrant is the midwife of your obligation.

We all remember the part in Braveheart where William Wallace is charged with treason against "his" King. Wallace proclaims that never in his whole life did he swear allegiance to the King, and the response is, "it matters not, he is your King."

You see, It matters not, you have an obligation of allegiance. The obligation is thrust upon you, and a dissenting opinion would almost surely cost you your life. This is how the Tyrant stayed in power; by crushing dissent and rebellion through ruthless aggression. A gruesome show of force is what maintained the Tyrant's Kingdom, and throughout history the aggression tended to be thinly veiled in Divinity, but it was always covered in blood.

But these were the ways of the Old World, right? Why would I revisit this bloody past to uncover the source of my so-called obligation? Even though the Tyrant was banished from America long ago, the concept of the obligation lingers on like an infected wound. The banishment of King George from the Colonies did nothing to remove the tyranny of the obligation, but is it the same? Did anything change? Or is it the same old blood-soaked obligation?
We have already established that the Tyrant demanded an obligation of allegiance through the sword, but how can any normal "citizen" still claim I have an obligation in a democratic society? The tyrant's claim was completely subjective and absolutely false, but there was always the threat of force to back up his claim. As I mentioned, I've had many people claim I am obligated in some fashion or another, but what makes their claim true? I'll give some examples of some of the "reasons" I have come up against in past discussions.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="240"] Michael Collins[/caption]
Ten years from now, you will not recognize a map of North America because of the significant changes in nation-state destruction and creation that will occur after the inevitable economic collapse of the Western world. Some of those change agents who will usher in the new geography will resort to fourth generation warfare and guerrilla warfare to carve the continent up. This Other New World Order has some historical analogs that will make the potential spectator or participant in these world shaping events better informed to deal with the undiscovered country ahead. The Other New World Order shapes change in the opposite direction of the apocryphal New World Order: where there is one nation, it will create dozens or hundreds. Consolidation and centralization will be the new enemy of the Other New World Order. In the interest of lending historical perspective to how this will take place, we will examine some worthies through history whose actions and imperatives built civilization locally instead of globally.
Michael Collins (Irish: Míċeál Ó Coileáin; 16 October 1890 – 22 August 1922), the Irish guerilla leader who was largely responsible for removing the English from the Irish homeland after an 800 year struggle was an extraordinary man. He was a young man whose talent quickly propelled him to the top of the ranks in the Irish resistance after the 1916 Easter Rising that precipitated the eventual divorce of the United Kingdom from the island of Eire in 1922. A civil war started in Ireland shortly after the divorce from the UK and Collins would live a mere four months in a relatively free Ireland before he was murdered by the Anti-Treaty IRA.
After the two Viking ages in Ireland, the Norman invasion established the first British presence in 1169 and the struggle against the English crown began in earnest. Seven and a half centuries would pass before the Irish republic finally calved off the British Empire in 1922. There is speculation on Plan Green (Germany) and Plan Kathleen [an invasion of Northern Ireland] (IRA) during WWII on the possibility of yet another English invasion to secure the Irish against German invasion but it is merely an historical interlude in the larger scheme of things. The British, of course, still held the Northern Ireland province as a fiefdom in the greater kingdom.
Michael Collins was what one could suppose is any government most dangerous adversary. He was a practical visionary. Not only did he envision a free Ireland, he had a concrete plan to get there. Like Samuel Adams and Patrick Henry before him and Giap after him, he blended a unique talent for the political chess game and calculus of violence that would enable the resisters to overwhelm the will and outmatch the ferocity of the British occupiers. While a contemporary of T. E. Lawrence, they did not know each other but crafted an eerily similar game-plan to defeat their foes. Collins knew that the “golden hour” for independence and all the planets aligning for the political tectonic shift were on the horizon and he simply had to arrange the events and orchestrate the players. Those six years between 1916 and 1922 would prove to be the precise moment when the Irish could loose the English fetters that had harnessed their nation for nearly 800 years.

"Democracy is also a form of worship. It is the worship of Jackals by Jackasses."
~ H.L. Mencken

I've heard many good arguments in opposition to voting. The arguments were so compelling that I adopted the non-voting stance for quite awhile. I mean, it just seemed so natural for someone who doesn't believe in authority to gravitate towards this position; it seemed like a no-brainier to me. I completely understand that behind every pull of the lever, and in back of every check of the box, lies aggression, or the threat of it. This is problematic for me, because the non-aggression principle is foundational to my philosophy. Therefore, I abandoned the act of voting, and swore I would never vote again.
Along with coming to the conclusion that voting is aggression, I also had other reasons for swearing off voting. I see democracy as nothing more than a perpetual war of the collectives, and I wanted no part in that any longer. In a battle of collectives, the vote is the lowly grunt, and as an individualist, I am much more than that. I own me, I own my labor, I own my property, and frankly, that ain't up for a vote. That was basically my position, and I held it for a long time, and I defended that position fiercely. However, I try to be as honest with myself as I possibly can, so this means from time to time, I send my own beliefs back through the logic mill to check them for errors. Through internal cross-examination, I believe I have discovered an error within the principled non-voting position. I stated earlier that my property is not up for a vote, and I believe that is where the error lies.
My aim with this essay is to try and lay out a logical and factual counter-argument to the non-voting position. I have found that many of the non-voting arguments appeal to emotion, specifically to pride,which I admit, can have the power to win over many people. But I am the kind of guy who constantly searches for the truth, so I specifically look for these kind of errors, and when I spot them I know I have to tread lightly. I really don't want to focus on one specific argument, because many good arguments have come from the principled non-voting camp, and if I was to try and refute every point, I would end up writing a book. Rather, I would like to try and strike at the root of these arguments; I will attempt to collapse them at their foundations. My goal is to focus on the principle, because I no longer consider non-voting a principled position for the anarchist. As a caveat, I will admit, I do find a difference between the statist voter, and the principled anarchist voter, as one could be considered offensive and one could be considered defensive. One is based in the destruction of property rights, one struggles to preserve property rights. I don't need to tell you which position the statist holds.

The "Stop Online Piracy Act", if passed, will allow "content owners" (studios, TV networks and record labels mainly) to order entire websites taken down if anybody posts "pirated content" there or even links to same. With so many videos being uploaded to Youtube and the like, monitoring or pre-approving videos is impossible and Google is on record as saying this bill will kill off Youtube completely.
The existing piracy controls are bad enough: the "content owners" can issue take-down notices when they spot piracy, but as long as Youtube or the like takes the stuff down (barring a counter-notification), Youtube can't be held legally responsible.
The classic role of the record companies going back to the first years of rock was to sign up a good bar band, lock 'em into a ghastly contract, get 'em radio time, promote the hell out of their album(s), get 'em concerts and pay them a relative pittance for the first few years. That was the norm.
That norm is breaking down because via Youtube and the like, brand new artists can connect directly with their audiences. The artist makes more money off of google adsense than they would as an obscure act on a large label, they can sell direct on iTunes or the like and they also sell CDs directly. Via the tracking on Youtube for number of views they build proof of their audience - which leads to either concert gigs and/or a contract with a record label that doesn't rape them.
This is exactly what Justin Beiber did.
Here's some other examples - pay attention to the number of views:
Ronald Jenkees - almost 8 million hits on that one song and over a quarter mil subscribers to his channel.
Andy McKee - 42 million views! He's signed with a small label specializing in acoustic/folk, which is probably a much better deal than a major label.
This sort of thing is pure poison if you're one of the execs at a big parasitic label. SOPA is how you stop it.

Rifleslinger runs a blog over at Art of the Rifle. The writing is clear, intelligent and original. He was kind enough to allow us to run this essay on our blog with this personal disclaimer from him which I wish to honor:

"While I do not consider myself anti-government or anarchistic, I respect the free exchange of ideas, and the civil manner in which ideas are expressed in the articles published here. It is in that spirit that I humbly submit the following."

I use the word "Rifleman" in the following text as a general term that could also be interpreted as "warrior", "knight", "patriot, "samurai", "protector" or any number of other terms. At any rate, mere skill at rifle marksmanship is not what I'm talking about, and any number of other skill sets may fit the following description.

If you’re reading this for pleasure, you’re very likely a rifleman or an aspiring rifleman (I include women in the word “rifleman” because I remember what proper English is, even though I seldom speak it). If you’re a rifleman, you might have thought about what all your hard won skill might be useful for. So have I.
The rifleman in modern society is akin to a ham radio in a smart phone world. The smart phone is quick and chock full of capabilities that are a lot more interesting in terms of the phone's screen than of the real, physical, and interactive world. It is new, and keeping up with the latest model is a sure way to engage in what sociologists would call “conspicuous consumption”, so you can let everyone in the checkout line at the supermarket know that you can afford the latest and greatest as you text away (or whatever you do with those damn things). Your smart phone can gather all the data you need to come up with a firing solution for your precision shot in just a minute or two. You can even buy a mount for your picatinny rail on which to plant the phone (never miss a call as you ‘send it’). You can use your phone to watch movies and listen to music. You always know that if there is an emergency, or your car breaks down you don’t have to worry. You can always be aware of what’s going on everywhere, except directly around you.
The ham radio is not new or sexy. The barista at Starbucks is not likely to be impressed by the skills of an amateur radio operator. It doesn’t do a plethora of cool things. It’s pretty much a communication tool.
In the extremely unlikely event that the thin veneer of our placid and peaceful society is somehow ripped away, the cell phone network is likely to be compromised. In the event the batteries cannot be charged, the phone’s life will be measured in hours. It will then be a useless piece of garbage. Millions of smart phone owners who are totally dependent will be left jonesing for their smart fix. They will be expecting that they can get bailed out with a quick call or text. The idea that they should have found some other way out would be unfathomable to them.
Ham radios are intended to be used as a backup to regular communication in the event of an emergency. Their users think ahead on how to keep power supplied and replenished. The technology is relatively simple and robust.So it is with the rifleman.

“Under a Communist Party Government, South Africa will become a land of milk and honey.”

-Nelson Mandela

Occupy Wall Street is providing a refreshing new insight into how the collectivist mind works (or does not). Now that the global warming business is starting to fall on deaf ears, the hard left government supremacist hive mind is having to find new vehicles and venues to press their agenda for universal slavery. The assault on the tattered remnants of private business is now the subject of much mewling and teeth-grinding by the usual suspects. I did want to express my personal condolences to Hillary Clinton on the death of Kim Jong Il, her dreams of a happy marriage to a more straight-forward partisan of her most secret ambitions is now dashed on the rocky shoreline of history unfulfilled. Bill's trips to Moscow simply did not have the long-term effect desired.
Let's get back to fundamentals. What is a private business? It is a method of trading products and services for wealth to generate profits to enrich the owners and workers in the enterprise and additionally seed the investment, growth and expansion of the business.
What is the business of government and politicians? To earn wealth and establish punitive control over individual transactions with no merit whatsoever; in other words, to employ the monopoly powers of violence to enrich the few at the expense of the many. Bastiat said it more eloquently but there it is. Politicians love to project an image of stately dignity and honorifics for the terrific and self-sacrificing service they do. The deception is blatant and they are no more than thieves wrapped in expensive state regalia with armed guards to protect them from their victims. Those victims they have not mentally turned to eunuchs already through the insidious ministrations of television, government education and the soothing bastardization of the language to manipulate the sheeple, are waking up to the sheer audacity of the heist that has been called the state. Turning the Bolshevik idyll on its head, it speaks to the true nature of government and governance.